Healing
by BlackPepper3964
Summary: Kagome comes back to the past a little worse for the wear, how will everyone else react to the changes that will occur in their favourite miko?
1. Fortitude

**Hey guys! New story for you! Hope you enjoy!  
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**BP  
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_**Chapter** **1**_: _Fortitude_

Kagome desperately wanted to cry as she hauled herself out of the well, trying the ignore the pain that spread through her body. She ignored the looks she was getting from her group, not to mention Sesshoumaru and his own group, while she turned and pressed her hands into the well, memorising the feel of the ancient magic flowing through the wooden structure. Then, taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip upon the aged wood and began to pull her own power from deep within her body.

She gasped then grit her teeth in pain as the well seemed to know exactly what she was about to do and resisted.

"No." She whispered as the amount of power she called upon increased, making her body glow with it. "No more. Stop it." She hissed, viciously beating down the well's power, encompassing it into a small ball which floated out of the well, shooting up towards the sky. It exploded, spreading through the atmosphere harmlessly, though it drew clouds that proceeded to pour water in tiny droplets. Kagome tilted her head towards the heavens, letting the rain stream down her face, as she finally allowed herself to cry, knowing the youkai or hanyou in the small crowd gathered couldn't smell the salt and couldn't see the tears.

Energy spent, the glow subsided and Kagome collapsed to her knees, hands still resting on the well's edge, the magic no longer there to comfort her. She felt the auras of her friends move forward to see if she was okay, and she truly wanted to reassure them she was too, but she had no idea.

"Kagome! What's wrong with you? Why are ya back so early? C'mon, let's go!" Inuyasha was truly a baka, one that asked too many questions. Kagome bowed her head and didn't answer for several moments. During this time three things happened: one, everyone noticed that Kagome wasn't acting normally; two, the rain had stopped; three, all with a superior sense of smell noticed that her scent had changed.

Inuyasha's face went red with anger and jealousy. "Wench! Why has your scent changed?" His tone was rougher than it should have been, mind too clouded with anger to notice how Kagome had stiffened.

"Can't you tell, Inuyasha?" Her voice, weak and quivering, did nothing to bring Inuyasha back from the brink of anger. Sango stepped forward, reaching towards Inuyasha, trying to get him to stop. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru took a discreet sniff and narrowed his eyes - Inuyasha had only smelled one difference in the miko's scent with his weaker nose and so did he, but he couldn't be certain unless he was close.

Inuyasha growled as he spoke. "What happened to your innocence, Kagome! How dare you…!" He grabbed her by the shoulders, irritated by the fact that Kagome's back was still to him, intending to turn her round to face him. What he did not expect was for Kagome to stiffen completely in his arms before screaming brokenly, terror clouding her scent, along with salt. The others watched in horror as Kagome thrashed wildly in his arms, frantically trying to get away. He held onto her for a few more seconds, too shocked to do anything else, but hurriedly released her, watching as she crawled away from him and turned so her back was to the well and she was facing him, along with everyone else.

"Kagome…?" Kagome's broken, terrified gaze turned unseeingly towards the voice. Sango gasped, utterly stunned at how vulnerable Kagome seemed at that moment. She slowly walked towards her, trying not to scare her anymore than she was. Sesshoumaru had sent Rin with Jaken and Ah-Un back the Palace of the Moon as soon as he had detected the disturbance in her scent, and he was now faintly thankful that he had. Rin did not need to see her mother-figure break in such a way.

He himself had seen this before, knew what caused it, and wondered what the miko would do now. It was evident by her display earlier that her miko powers where still resting in her soul, despite her loss of innocence. He knew that, when faced with such a fate as the miko now was, most women of this era would prefer to take their own lives than live and deal with the pain of healing and accepting what happened.

"Are you with me, Kagome?" Sango made sure to speak slowly and softly. Kagome's eyes, though still broken, lost the terrified look and focused on her.

"Hai, Sango-Chan, I'm here. And this is where I'll stay." There was strength in Kagome's words and tone that no one had expected. "Besides," Kagome sent a small smile in Sango's direction, "I would be letting him win if lost myself, would I not? I don't like losing." That drew a loud laugh from everyone.

"Ah, you're quite right, Kagome-Sama. It's good to see the competitiveness in you hasn't been lost." Miroku also walked towards Kagome, slowing down a bit with the frantic look she sent him. Inuyasha was still at a loss as to what they were talking about.

"Well? I'm still waiting for an answer, wench." Kagome looked at him and stood up shakily. She looked him straight in the eye, making sure he saw exactly what she was feeling.

"An answer to what, Inuyasha?" He growled.

"What is up with the change in your scent? The innocence is gone!" A though occurred to Kagome, then, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Why does it matter to you?"

"Because it does, Kagome! Just answer the question, bitch!" Kagome felt the rage building in her and partially revelled in it. It made her feel something else other than the pain of between her legs and the scars in her heart and mind.

"Don't call me a bitch, dog boy!" The yell seemed to take everyone aback. They were surprised that Kagome could have the strength to still do the old routine with Inuyasha.

"Then tell me what's going on, then!" Kagome was angry enough now to not care what she said.

"I was raped, moron! My innocence taken from me in the most brutal way the bastard could think of! How can your oh-so-superior nose not figure that out? The humans, the weak humans, knew what was going on before you did, idiot!" Inuyasha stared, his mouth open ready to say something caring, he knew it was. But what came out was anything but. Hopefully the long-term effects of what he would say would be positive. He noticed that her weird hakama she called jeans were ripped and torn, and her tee shirt had blood on it.

"How could you be so weak? Surely you must have learned something while in this era, right?!" Kagome's eyes narrowed in anger, while Sesshoumaru wondered if Inuyasha knew exactly what he was doing. It might seem uncaring, but Sesshoumaru figured that what he was saying would help the miko the most, more than what any caring words, or comforting hugs could offer. His words were, essentially, forcing her to face the facts about what happened and accept them.

"Yes, I was weak! But I can't help that - you have no idea what happened on the other side of that well! The bastard killed my family in front of me before deciding to _mercifully_ spare my pathetic life(!) And please _do_note the sarcasm!" Inuyasha scowled, but he was inwardly pleased. He wasn't as stupid as he looked - he knew exactly how to help people, no matter how cruel it seemed, but he could only do it with Kagome, for some reason. Now if only he could get her angrier.

"Alright, but how's wallowing gonna help you any? Since when were you so weak, you actually gave up Kagome?! Kikyou would never have given up!" Kagome wanted to smack him.

"I'm not giving up! And I hate to break it to you, Inuyasha, but Kikyou hasn't gone through what I have! _I am stronger than her_! She didn't have to live two lives only to have one of them _destroyed_and her virginity taken from her! So what if she died? No disrespect intended, but why is she always put on such a high pedestal with you, Inuyasha?" He interrupted her, trying to hide the smirk on his face.

"She's not." She didn't hear him for a moment.

"And another thing, she - wait a minute, what did you say?" She almost couldn't believe her ears.

"I said she's not. What, are you deaf?" Ignoring her incredulous look at the insult, he continued, "I don't put her on a pedestal, I put you on one." He was shocked when Kagome just threw her hands in the air and walked off toward the village, muttering something about confusing dogs. Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippou stayed behind to reprimand Inuyasha on his actions toward Kagome. No one noticed when Sesshoumaru suddenly wasn't where he used to be.

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**Okay, I know the effects of what has happened have not really been shown in this chapter, but this is exprimental, so I'm just going with the flow at the moment. Just, please, bear with me on this. Review to let me knw what you think!**

**Next time: Kagome discovers something that devasates her, and Sesshoumaru tells her something of his past.**

**BP**


	2. Heart and Help

**Hello! Another chapter! Let me know if you think it's okay, because I'm still not sure about continuing this... Enjoy!**

**BP**

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**_Chapter 2_**: _Heart and Help_

As soon as the others couldn't see it, Kagome's shoulders slumped, the strength leaving her. A tear ran down her face as the memories of what happened flooded her brain again. Sesshoumaru walked behind her at a distance and was faintly surprised when Kagome turned as she walked, and went into the surrounding forest. Curious, he followed her and was surprised when he found her in a position he found himself in when he was thinking. Sitting down on a large tree root, her back against a tree, her right leg up against the root while her right arm was leaning on the knee and her left arm resting on her stomach, was Kagome. Her head was bowed, but he could smell the tears and without thinking, moved forward.

Kagome's head shot up as soon as she sensed him coming towards her and the wariness in her gaze made him slow down ever so slightly. Her eyes followed him as he sat down next to her before they shut as a few more tears escaped her eyes. Both she and Sesshoumaru had become relative friends in the time Sesshoumaru and his small pack became allied with hers, so if he talked in word that were more than 'hn', 'die' and 'Jaken', it no longer surprised her.

"Why are you here, Sesshoumaru-Sama?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. But instead of answering the question, he told her something from his past that he had never said to anyone else.

"I once had a sister." The loss of 'this Sesshoumaru' usually meant that what he was about to say was very serious. Kagome turned her head towards him and opened her eyes curiously. Seeing that he had her full attention, he continued. "She had also gone through what you have, and I was the only one who would comfort her. She eventually recovered, but she was always terrified of men afterwards and hated being touched by one unless they first warned her. One day, she was attacked by bandits. Too terrified to do anything, even scream, she could do nothing to stop them from repeating what she had gone through once before just leaving her on the side of the road. That was how I came across her. She begged me to kill her, that she couldn't recover for a second time. I saw the truth in her words and asked her how she would like to die." Sesshoumaru glanced at her again, only to see her enraptured gaze on him, completely into the tragic tale.

"And what happened?" She asked quietly as tears ran down her cheeks.

"She said she would like to die by my poison. At first I out rightly refused - my poison at the time was extremely painful and one of the slowest ways to die. She smiled at me and told me about a special kind of poison, a poison only I could create. I didn't understand. She held up her own claws as she drew mine closer to her and cut my palm and let a few drops of her own poison drop into the wound." Sesshoumaru stopped as he felt a small tug on his sleeve. He looked at her fully.

"What did her poison do?"

"Hers was not corrosive, as mine was. It would paralyse the opponent as it killed them painfully." Kagome's eyes widened, and was suddenly not sure as to which poison was better.

"Oh." Amusement softened Sesshoumaru's golden eyes for a moment, to Kagome's fascination.

"Yes. When she had dropped her poison into the small wound, it had mixed the two poisons together. Whereas before I had two kinds of poison, now I had three. The newest edition of my poison could numb the being as it killed them, and the being would have no time to feel pain. It is the most merciful of my poisons, by far. After that, she asked me to kill her. With care I injected a rather large dose of it in her bloodstream and had no choice but to hold her as she died." Kagome frowned as something didn't quite add up.

"How come she was affected by your poison, but you weren't affected by hers?" Pleased with her quickness, Sesshoumaru answered her.

"I have immunity to large doses of a number of poisons. That is why a few drops of hers did not affect me. As for my sister… she was not gifted with immunity." Her mouth made an 'O' shape as she understood.

"Why did you tell me that?" His eyes suddenly went distant and she wondered why.

"This Sessho- no, I wished to help. It is no use for the Shikon no Miko to be traumatised." There was a faint teasing in his voice.

"Thank you Sesshoumaru-Sama!" Kagome smiled brightly, completely grateful to him. Her voice was light as she spoke, but it darkened when she next spoke. "Would you… I mean… could you…?" Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed slightly, wondering what exactly she was getting at.

"Speak clearly, Kagome." His harsh tone did nothing to hide that he had said her name. She looked shocked before composing herself.

"Would you help me from now on, Sesshoumaru-Sama?" Kagome feared the response more than she had feared anything else in her life. Sesshoumaru nodded once.

"I shall." He blinked, slightly stunned, as Kagome gave one of her brightest smiles.

"Thank you so much, Sesshoumaru-Sama!" She surprised herself when she reached over and gave him a hug. Sesshoumaru stiffened, not because he was unused to the contact as Kagome had often done this before, but because he was unsure what her reaction would be once she realised exactly what she had done. Sure enough, as soon as she realised where she was, she tensed. He smelled her fear, but she wasn't letting go.

Kagome knew she had to overcome this if she wanted to carry on with her life - she was not going to let her rapist win. She felt as Sesshoumaru relaxed as she continued to hug him. She was truthfully very afraid, but as she took deep breaths in and out, she found she could relax slowly. When she was completely relaxed, she felt Sesshoumaru's right arm go around her body to hug her back, or at least to get her used to him touching her.

Surprise filtered through him when, despite her fear, Kagome held on. He heard her breathing rhythmically, evidently trying to calm herself down. He relaxed, knowing it probably wouldn't help if he was tense. When he was sure she was relaxed, Sesshoumaru put his remaining arm around her slowly, trying to sense if she was ready for it, letting her get used to it. She tensed, still doing the breathing exercises, but didn't move away. She whimpered in distress when she couldn't relax, her memories overwhelming her. Sesshoumaru purred deep in his chest, crooning to calm her down as much a possible.

To say he was shocked would an understatement when she released an answering croon. She was not a youkai, so she should not be able to do what she was doing. Then he watched, unsure what to think as her hair gained deep red streaks, the tips of her hair also that colour and it grew to her hips. He couldn't see her features, but they changed, smoothing out, loosing the slight girlish quality as it matured and her high cheek bones became more prominent. Her eyes narrowed as she felt the change within herself, her eyesight sharpening and her hearing becoming more sensitive. Her nails grew sharper, but not as much as a youkai's would. Sesshoumaru stepped back out of the hug, wanting to see exactly what had happened.

The change was evident. Her body was more curved, filling out properly, her ears had grown to elfin points and her eyes had changed colour. Once a chocolate brown, they were now an airy blue, dark as the sky, yet somehow colder than that. Through her torn tee shirt green patterns covered her arms that he assumed went to her shoulders. They were also on her legs and stomach and he admired the curves and whisper-like strokes of the lines.

Sesshoumaru had no idea what kind of creature she was, but he was determined to find out. What intrigued him the most was the fact that she did no seem surprised that this had happened now, only resigned and sorrowful. He supposed that she was still mourning the loss of her family on top of her rape.

He had never been more wrong in his assumptions.

The problem was, how was she going to hide this from her friends?

And even worse, Naraku?


	3. Apologies and Author's Note

**A/N**

Sorry guys, but this story is not going to be completed by me, unfortunately. As such, I decided to put it up ofr adoption, so let me know if you want it. My muse disappeared for this, and it's unlikely that it will come back. Sorry.

**BP**


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